Wine Talk: A good year?

Major importers and wine stores in Israel set to start parties launching the first new Beaujolais wines from the 2010 harvest.

By ADAM MONTEFIORE
drinking wine_311 (photo credit: (Lucas Schifres, Bloomberg))
drinking wine_311
(photo credit: (Lucas Schifres, Bloomberg))
Beaujolais Nouveau is with us again! At just past midnight on November 18, the major importers and wine stores in Israel will start parties launching the first new Beaujolais wines from the 2010 harvest.
This custom first began in Israel with the launch of a wine called Hilulim, produced by Carmel in 1983-4, which continued for over 20 years. Today there are three Israeli wineries that produce a young dry red wine in the young, fruity style of a Beaujolais, from the recently completed harvest: Binyamina, Golan Heights and Tishbi.
Binyamina will be launching a Beaujolais-style wine for the sixth successive year. Its wine is called B 2010. This wine, with an attractive red label and screw cap, is made for early and easy drinking. It is made 100% from Carignan grapes. The B stands for Baby, but could also be interpreted as the B of Binyamina or Beaujolais.
The Golan Gamay Nouveau 2010 is the most authentic. It is made from the Gamay Noir grape variety, which is the same as is used in Beaujolais, and also uses the same carbonic maceration process. The wine will be attractively decorated with four different labels of people who were the first in their fields.
Tishbi Winery will be launching their Beaujolais style called Tishbi Junior 2010, which is made from Carignan grapes from owner Yonatan Tishbi’s own vineyards. Carignan may not be the grape of Beaujolais, but it is the most Israeli choice possible, and a grape suitable for the Beaujolais style of wine.
In actual fact neither of these is the first wine to be launched from the 2010 harvest. The first wine released is the Golan Moscato 2010 and the Young Selected Moscato 2010; however, the Beaujolais tradition is for light red wines and there will be a choice of three good-value Israeli options, priced between NIS 29 and NIS 35, to celebrate with on November 19.

Adam Montefiore works for Carmel Winery and regularly writes about wine both in Israeli and international publications.
adam@carmelwines.co.il